McGill Park Phase 1 and Trail Extension – Canal Winchester, Ohio

STONE completed ecological services for an approximately 20-acre area proposed for the development of recreation fields, access drives, associated parking, and a new multi-use trail associated with the McGill Park Phase 1 and Trail Extension project. The ecological services consisted of a Preliminary Jurisdictional Wetlands/Waters Delineation, Clean Water Act permitting, and macroinvertebrate sampling. Multiple design changes and navigating around several high quality resources made this a challenging project. STONE worked closely with the client to avoid and minimize impacts to resources, and helped come up with creative solutions to use on-site preservation to offset minor impacts to the streams. STONE was able to complete an intensive qualitative macroinvertebrate assessment on one of the proposed impacted streams. The results of the macroinvertebrate survey indicated the stream to be of a quality which allowed the proposed impacts to be permitted under the speedier and more cost-effective Ohio EPA’s Director’s Authorization rather than the more costly and typically much longer Individual 401 Permit.